Packing

yeah yeah i have ages left befor i go.. thats what you all keep telling me, but to me 29 days is not ages, its 4 weeks, and its allready been 2 since i came home from safari and that has gone so fast i cant believe that i only have twice that time left. also because of baggage limits i will be posting some of the stuff over ahead of me, and i want to get that posted asap so it beats me there. however the amount i send its important. dont want to be over on the baggage allowances coz its really cheap, but posting its not all that cheap either, just cheaper than the $40/kg on one of my airlines.

so thats a photo of all my Aussie stuff to take to japan

from top left we have

- 2 Australian Flags

- 4 Aussie animal bookmarks

- lots of postcards

- a book of aussie animals

- my 3 bags

- 2 Aussie caps ... the second of which has a built in bottle opener *wtf mate*

- benie (not even aussie colours ... not impressed )

- Australia Jacket (got it on melbourne tour :D )

(and now back to the left middle)

- 2 Australian maps

- Aussie wrapping paper, some flags, some plants and animals

- journal that was given to my by my yr 9& 10 Japaneses teacher ( thankyou )... i know its not particually aussie but its in the picture.

-Kangaroo road sign

- boomarangs on the kangaroo tea towel

- pencil case and stationary

- kangaroo dinner bell

- flag t shirt

- Aussie Flag toothpicks

- wallet

- letter opener

(back to the left, bottom)

- pile of Aussie animal soft toys... contains, several koalas and kangaroos as well as at least one of each of the following; wombat, echidna, emu, kookabara, platapus ect...

- the clingy koalas

- opal kangaroo/ koala necklaces

- aussie flag charms

- facewasher

- phone charms

- massive pile of keyrings

- gold palted Australian Crest plate ... another melbourne tour bargian

- flag stickers

- tattos

- koala pins

- massive bag of kangaroo pins

- 4 aboriginal paintings.... they are all diffrent ... yet another melbour tour find. + the little one and the one on a magnet.

there are then also some other pins that pookie and i are making. photos later i guess ... when they are done. ... most if not all of that will be in the package i post to Japan, purely 'cause i wont need it straight away and it is heavy... well heaver than you would think.

did a prastice pack of my suitcase today. it fits easially ... well yes easily with the help of a few space bags, but easily non the less however its way to heavy. so now got to re go through everything and decide what i really want with me and what could be left at home. so that its light enough. ... wish me luck with that.

Saturday 24th september~ home again

When we landed Mel and I went to the toilets and she said “ I really hope they had western style toilets here” me “Mel of course they do we are in BRISBANE” and then when we were washing our hand we realised that we had also semi forgotten about taps…. We were just waving our hands under the tap and expecting it to start.
Mum and dad took me to Strathpine straight away and I so got cultural shock or reverse culture shock which ever you want to call it, when I realised that I could read all the sings and understand everything that was being said to me. i was shocked at our sever lack of culture like there is in japan.
I had a absolutely great time and I think this will have been the first of many to Japan, such a beautiful country.

in the car i started unpacking the bag of presents i had taken aboard as hand luggage and givign them to mum and dad, i was so excited about being able to share my wonderful experiance with others. i couldnt and still cant wait to get back to japan and continue my journey in the land of my heart. God truely did provide for me while in Japan and has given me an incredble passion for the country, the culture, the language and the people.


i hope youve enjoyed reading my journals of japan trip 05 as much as i have enjoyed going over them and reminissing on the trip.

Monday 12th September ~ Fujimi school, Maroyal visit and shinto falls

We went to school today, we even had our own, named, shoe lockers. After meeting in “our” room we went on a trip to visit the mayor of Fuji, (as in Japan it is the mayors that run the schools and as we are visiting a school in his district that is the socially correct thing to do.) we all received presents from the council (a CD of Japan photos, a set of Fuji post cards and a heap of information booklets of the area.)
After we had finished our duties at the council offices (including being photographed by the newspapers) we headed to some really pretty falls on the side of Mount Fuji. After we had battled to communicate while there…. Not because of language… just because the water fall was so loud I could barely hear Mel when she was standing next to me yelling, we headed off to Jusco … a huge department store… kind of like the Myer centre.
Back at Fujimi (our sister school) we were presented to the school at a special assembly held just for us. There we got given another present … which in fact will be shipped back to grace, as it is to big for us to pack in our suitcases (about shoebox size each) but one was opened to show us what we were receiving, it is a cool bamboo structure that has a well in the middle and two branches on which dragonflies balance.
After school Yui had club again so after i had had a look in hte band club room and played with them for a bit while waiting for Oksan to pick me up she took me shopping and she brought presents for my family and friends she wouldn’t let me pay for anything … in total she spent about 20 000 yen which is about $250 (80 yen per dollar)
Just after I had a shower mum and dad called. It was good to talk to them but made me kinda homesick.